Freighter, Four Miles from Destination, Forced to Travel 220 Miles to Reach It

The 7500 ton West German freighter Hamburger Vliet had to steam 220 miles last night to get from the Jordanian port of Aqaba to the Israeli port of Eilat which are only four miles apart. The vessel, which discharged cargo at Aqaba, was scheduled to load 7000 tons of phosphates for Singapore at Eilat. Both ports are at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba and within sight of each other. But Jordanian authorities will not clear a vessel bound directly for an Israeli port. The Hamburger Vliet obliged them by steaming 210 miles down the Gulf to the mouth of the Straits of Tiran and then turning around and steaming back the same distance to Eilat.